''Ileodictyon gracile'' is a

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (f ...

species of

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Phallaceae Phallaceae is a family of fungi, commonly known as stinkhorns, within the order Phallales. Stinkhorns have a worldwide distribution, but are especially prevalent in tropical regions. They are known for their foul-smelling, sticky spore masses, ...

. It is native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where it is commonly known as the smooth cage fungus, with reference to its

basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp of a basidiomycota, basidiomycete, the Multicellular organism, multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are chara ...

(fruit bodies), shaped like a ball with interlaced or latticed branches partly covered on the inner surfaces with a foetid

slime layer A slime layer in bacteria is an easily removable (e.g. by centrifugation), unorganized layer of extracellular material that surrounds bacteria cells. Specifically, this consists mostly of exopolysaccharides, glycoproteins, and glycolipids. There ...

containing

basidiospore A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are pro ...

s. ''Ileodictyon gracile'' is similar to and sometimes confused with ''

Ileodictyon cibarium ''Ileodictyon cibarium'' is a saprotrophic species of fungus in the family Phallaceae. It is native to Australia and New Zealand, where it is commonly known as the basket fungus or the white basket fungus, alluding to its fruit bodies, shaped li ...

'', which is also native to Australia. Fruit bodies of both species are whitish, mesh balls of similar size, but can be differentiated by characteristics of the receptacle arms that form the mesh. ''I. cibarium'' has a thicker mesh with arms that are wrinkled, wider, elliptical in cross section, and not thickened where the arms meet, compared to ''I. gracile.''

Distribution

''Ileodictyon gracile'' is native to Australia, but is not known with certainty from New Zealand. The species has also been found in Asia, in China, India, Japan, and Korea, possibly as a result of it being introduced. It is also known in Europe from England, Italy, Portugal, and Spain where it is certainly introduced.

References

Phallales Fungi of Australia Fungi described in 1845 Fungus species {{phallales-stub